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“So did they ever live a happily ever after in that book?” he asked innocently, his gaze devouring me.
I felt my throat bobble, his gaze drawn to its dip and then my lips. “I never read the last few chapters without you.”
Slowly, I reached out to him. He mimicked my action until his calloused fingers brushed against mine. My body lit with flames and the tears that had been building finally broke free. He pulled me in, hugging and squeezing me tightly as I cried into his shoulder. I was surrounded by his warmth and protection. Home. I felt like I was at home again. It hadn’t been any particular place and certainly not the cabin. It had been Eric. And I’d make sure to send Lori the biggest present of her life for sending him back to me.
“You know,” I said with a croaky voice. “I was going to come find you in Chicago after tonight. I was going to tell my father I couldn’t go through with it.”
He brushed back part of my hair, studying my face as if he might never see it again. “Shadow would’ve liked that. I haven’t been the only miserable bastard without you.”
I let out a hideous laugh through blanketed tears. “Well, I am still technically on vacay.”
He smiled, staring at my lips. “Would you like to come back to Chicago with me on a temporary vacation?” he asked.
Warmth filled my entire body and I felt like I lit up like a Christmas tree. I nodded profusely. “Yes,” I breathed. “I don’t want to be anywhere else, Eric. Even if you are a grump half the time.”
His lips twitched into a smile until finally, he bent down and kissed me. All that hurt, longing, and passion coiled into one. His tongue was dominant, and I opened up to him more so he could lick every delicacy that I’d happily give him. I could feel his cock twitching beneath the fabric of his pants, my own body heating with anticipation.
He growled, those hooded green eyes studying my lips as he pulled back. “I have a hotel room if—”
“Yes,” I breathed, grabbing his hand and running for the door. He laughed, tugging me back.
“Wait, what if your father sees.”
“I don’t care who sees us together, Eric. I never have. Especially my father of all people. And besides it also turns out that my boyfriend’s big enough to be scary.”
“Boyfriend?” he asked, arching eyebrows.
Heat blasted across my cheeks. “I—”
His lips crushed to mine again possessively. “I never want you guessing where you stand again, Cassidy. You’re the only woman for me. So yes, I’m your fucking boyfriend.”
The way he growled it had my toes curling, as if the moment he’d said it I was trapped in some twisted dark ruin. A dangerous promise and one that I’d been praying for every single day since the moment I’d left him and Shadow behind in that cabin.
“Now take me to this hotel room of yours, boyfriend.”
With ease, he threw me over his shoulder forcing a small squeal to escape my lips as he gritted out, “It’s just one floor down.” But I didn’t even know if we could make it past the elevator.
I kicked and screamed playfully, my loose curls swinging toward the floor as he carried me like a caveman. My father and mother were nowhere to be seen. Most likely because my mother knew exactly who’d been in that room and she kept my father distracted.
Warmth flooded me as a lightness finally took hold. I finally felt free. My parents had shown their love in their own way. But now I’d found my own that filled me entirely and I wasn’t ever willing to let it go.
Epilogue – Eric
Six months later
Clover and Damon’s engagement party danced with life. So many guests fluttered about celebrating the pair. I absentmindedly rubbed Cassidy’s belly. She’d only just started showing but I found myself protectively gravitating toward patting the baby and I’d be fucked if I gave a shit if others considered me doting or “too much” because of it.
What I considered “too much” was my mother, who now called every day delighted and offering advice on parenting. By now she’d stopped calling me directly and called Cassidy instead, who seemed more than happily obliging.
“So how are you finding it in Chicago?” Issobelle asked Cassidy. Issobelle was one of the few friends of Cassidy’s I did like. She was no-nonsense and gave no shits about what anyone else thought.
“It’s beautiful. Not the same as New York but nothing else is. But this one makes it all worth it.” She patted my arm. “Although he seemed awfully grumpy with me this morning before we flew out, maybe I’ll reconsider.”
I let out a breath; she’d been teasing me over it all morning. “Well, if I hadn’t spent the entire morning freezing my ass off and letting Twinkles pee on the grass I might’ve had a nice sleep in.”
Cassidy laughed. Twinkles, the newest member to our household, was a smart-mouth Chihuahua who I was still in the process of training to pee on the grass instead of our bathroom mat. Cassidy had pleaded to get a friend for Shadow and he’d stared at the rat-looking dog in the same way that I had. And despite promising that she’d look after and train it, I’d ended up freezing my ass off every morning. But granted, Cassidy had been dealing with some intense morning sickness.
It was only a month after adopting Twinkles that we’d discovered we were due for our own. Had it been a year ago, I would’ve been bone deep terrified at the thought of having a baby, but with Cassidy it felt right. I hadn’t even been looking for her, and yet she’d been what I needed all along.
